Brief History:

In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the current laws banning assisted suicide as unconstitutional and ruled that "mentally-competent Canadians with unbearable suffering" should be allowed to end their lives with the aid of a physician. The court gave Parliament one year to develop a new law.

Update:

Parliament requested a six-month extension in December 2015 and this past week it was announced that a four-month extension has been granted. In the meantime, the Supreme Court has included an exemption for anyone who wants to ask a judge to end their life so as not to “unfairly prolong the suffering of those who meet the clear criteria."

This past Friday, the first legal doctor-assisted suicide was performed in Canada. It happened in Quebec. A spokesperson of the University Health and Social Services Agency-National Capital CUISSS reported that there is a second application in process. Click here to read more.

Special Committee Appointed:

A special joint committee on physician-assisted dying has been appointed to review the report of the External Panel on Options for a legislative response to the previous laws being struck down. They have also been tasked with making recommendations on the framework of a federal response to doctor-assisted suicide. The committee’s first meeting was yesterday where they determined the joint chairs of the committee.

Action Points:

1 - PRAY: Please pray that our government, and Canada as a whole, would embrace a culture of life from birth right through to old age. Please pray specifically that those in charge of creating the framework for the new laws will have wisdom and that they would put the strictest guidelines possible on doctor-assisted suicide within Canada. Pray also that the new laws will protect doctors' freedom of conscience and religion.

SHARE: Please also take a moment to share this important information with your networks on social media. Please click on the social media icons at the very top of this e-mail to share, or, click here to go to an on-line version of this e-mail.

2 - E-MAIL THE COMMITTEE: Please contact members of the committee (listed below) to express your stance on physician-assisted suicide; that the sanctity of human life is a foundational principle of Canadian society.

Please scan to the very end of this e-mail for a template letter you can use if you like.

E-mail Template:

At the very end of this e-mail you will find an e-mail template that you can use if you like.

A shocking study has released news that between 2000 and 2012 at least 216 babies in Quebec died after being born alive following failed abortions. This report is an erie reminder of a similar report released in 2012 which showed that between 2000 and 2009 there were 491 babies across Canada who died after they were born alive during abortions. The National Post reported on the issue in an article this past weekend. ( Click here to read now. )

These studies are incredibly disturbing and highlight both the humanity of the unborn and and the cruel practice of abortion. They are another reminder of the reality that Canada has no legislation on abortion and that we are in desperate need of a national conversation.

As our MPs prepare to return to Parliament after the holiday break we want to encourage you to take a moment to e-mail your Member of Parliament to express your concern regarding these reports and ask them to bring the issue before the House of Commons for discussion (please see action points below for instruction).

ACTION PONTS:

1 - E-MAIL YOUR MP, THE PRIME MINISTER AND KEY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT : Please e-mail your Member of Parliament, the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Minister of Health the Minister (The Honourable Jane Philpott) of Justice (The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould) and the Leader of the Opposition (The Honourable Rona Ambrose) to express your concern regarding this issue and ask them to call a national investigation on this important issue.

1 - PRAY: Please pray these reports would become a major national news story. Please pray that God would raise up strong, articulate and effective people influence to be advocates for the unborn in every sphere of society in Canada. Please pray for a moral outcry to come from both the Church in Canada and the public in general regarding this issue.

SHARE: Please also take a moment to share this important information with your networks on social media. Please click on the social media icons at the very top of this e-mail to share, or, click here to go to an on-line version of this e-mail.

Why This Campaign Matters:

Canada is the only democracy in the world without legislation protecting children in the womb. There are currently no laws governing abortion in Canada, meaning that it is legal to abort a baby right up to his or her birth. Recently, Lifesitenews reported that 216 babies were born alive, then died, after failed abortions in Quebec. Click here to read more.

Surveys show that when properly informed on the current laws in Canada, the majority of Canadians want some legal protection for children in the womb, especially in the last three months of pregnancy.

The Campaign:

This month, WeNeedALaw is holding a FREE postcard campaign to ask our new and returning Members of Parliament to take a stand for life.

They have created a package of five postcards, each with a slightly different message about injustices against pre-born children. All you need to do is address it to your local MP, sign your name and mail it off - postage to the House of Commons is free!

Other Action Points:

1 - PRAY: Please pray for abortion to be abolished in Canada. Pray that God would move upon the hearts of our lawmakers to embrace a culture of life so that they would bring about laws that protect unborn babies during pregnancy. Pray for mothers presently facing unplanned pregnancies; that they would experience hope and joy at the life growing within their wombs, and that systems of support and encouragement would rise up around them.

If you have not already done so, please sign up for the Justice Wall and pray 15 minutes a week for the ending of abortion. Click here to go there now.

GO TO PARLIAMENT WITH A MY CANADA DELEGATION THIS MARCH

Every year, the MY Canada Association takes a delegation of young adults (ages 15 – 35) to the Parliament of Canada to meet with our federal leaders. Within one week, these young adults meet with over 70 Parliamentarians to pray for them and share with them about important issues that our nation is facing. They also obtain thorough training on how to impact Canada, receive mentorship from some of Canada’s forerunning national leaders, and work, pray and play with other passionate young Canadians. Our next delegation will visit Parliament March 6-12th, 2016.

JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR CANADA EVERY 2ND TUESDAY

MY Canada is hosting national prayer conference calls every second Tuesday at noon EST.

The next call is January 19th, 2015 .

If you would like to participate in these calls please click here and add your name to the Keep Our Land e-list.

QUICK LINKS

NEW VIDEO: WHAT DOES HONOURING OUR LEADERS MEAN?

TEMPLATE LETTER TO E-MAIL TO ASSISTED SUICIDE COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Dear Physician-Assisted Dying Committee Member,

Thank you for serving on the special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying. This is an extremely complicated issue and the task ahead of you is not an easy one.

I am one of many Canadians who do not support any law permitting euthanasia or assisted-suicide and was grieved when the Supreme Court struck down the laws last year. I believe Human life is inherently worthy of protection by the law.

Having said this, I understand that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that mentally competent Canadians with unbearable suffering should be allowed to end their lives with the aid of a physician. As one of the Parliamentarians tasked with studying this important issue, I am writing to ask that you work to ensure that the strictest of safeguards are put in place to protect vulnerable Canadians (those who may be in a state of depression, who may be under coercion from family or others to end their lives, the elderly, the disabled or children). I am also writing to share some specific concerns I have for your consideration.

Some of my specific concerns include:

I am very concerned with the subjectivity of the terms “unbearable" pain and “mentally-competent” set forth by the Supreme Court. What is considered unbearable to one person may be bearable for another. Furthermore a person one physician deems mentally competent might be deemed incompetent by another. The terms are incredibly subjective and therefore, I believe, present a very real danger. These terms put physicians in a position to 'play God' with people's lives during a vulnerable time in their life.

I am concerned that reports show that in Belgium, one third of euthanasia deaths were done without explicit consent in spite of a law requiring consent.

I am deeply concerned with the fact that safeguards cannot eliminate abuse and unintended deaths.

I am also deeply concerned by trends we have seen in other nations that have legalized euthanasia towards ending the lives of children. This is very disturbing. My hope is that Canada would, in no circumstance, allow euthanasia of a child.

Finally, I am concerned by the multitude of medical cases of people who were unconscious for a period of time only to come out of that state and report that they were aware of everything happening around them during their state of unconsciousness, as well as the many cases of medical miracles where people recovered in-spite of medical science deeming them terminal. There is always a chance for a miracle and this chance should be protected.

In light of the above, I implore you, therefore, to create guidelines for Canada’s new laws on assisted-suicide, and to implement the strictest guidelines possible so that physician-assisted dying is a rarity in Canada.

Please put into place safeguards that protect those who may be pressured towards euthanasia in order to not become a burden to their families or society, or who would be coerced under physical, mental, or emotional distress. Please also protect Canadian doctors, who have dedicated themselves to saving lives and not ending them, so that their freedoms of conscience and religion are fully protected under the law.

I encourage you to focus on improving and extending palliative care and hospice resources rather than concentrating funds and personnel on assisted dying.

Thank you for your attention in this matter and for considering these points as you go forward in this assignment.